Bovis Homes has been fined for working out of agreed hours and upsetting the neighbours.

Above: Bovis' Haversham Gardens development in Newport

Telford & Wrekin Council prosecuted the housing developer following complaints from local residents about building noise early in the mornings and late in the evenings and at weekends.

Bovis Homes Ltd pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates Court today to nine charges of working outside permitted hours on its development in Edgmond Road, Newport.

Working hours had been agreed by Bovis to 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays with no working on Sundays or bank holidays.

The company was fined £17,750 and ordered to pay the council’s legal costs of £606 and a victim surcharge of £170.

Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member responsible for development control, said: “We received complaints that the work was starting earlier and finishing later than the permitted times with work also being carried out on Sundays. At first, our officers tried to settle the matter out of court, but despite those efforts, we later had to resort to issuing a planning notice and resorting to legal action in the best interests of local residents.”

A Bovis spokesman told the Shropshire Star: “We acknowledge that working time restrictions were unfortunately breached on site in these instances and apologise unreservedly for this. We have carried out a full investigation into the management of the site and have worked with the new site manager and our sub contractors to put in place checks and processes to ensure that this does not happen again.”